houston



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEO. HOUSTON, OF WASHINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

WEIGHINGr-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 7,562, dated August 13, 1850.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE HOUSTON, of IVashington, in the county of Beaufort and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful IVIachine for Suspending Barrels, Hogsheads, and other Cylindrical Packages, for the Purpose of Ascertaining the IVeight of Each, which I call the Skid- Scale, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the saine, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specifcation, in which- Figure l is a perspective View, and Figs. 2 and 3 are longitudinal elevations.

The scale frame, (Fig. l) A, A, A, A, is of iron, nearly in the forni of a stirrup iron. The bed-bars A*, Ai, are Xl-.1i inches set ll?,A inches apart, for the distance of 24 inches. The ends,B, B, are then gradually brought together, and welded to the suspending parts, O, C, which are of {XlT inches, and lt0 inches in the clear, to the height of 35 inches, therein reaching to t-he full height of l0 inches. On the top, in the center of the arch, a piece of inch round iron is welded, I), forming an eye, in order to attach it .to the lower hook of a scalebeam. Leading from the upper hook of the scale-beam there is a screw eye-bolt, E, passing through a cross-beam, with a tap on the upper end, F, to elevate or depress the scale.

Fig. 2 shows longitudinally the position of the scale when suspended and ready for use. The skids, 2 pairs, A, A, A, A, are of oak, 4t2 inches in length, of an inch on the edge, 3 inches deep at the resting points, a, a, a, a, and tapering on the top edge to l inch at the extremity of the short, and an inch at the extremity of the long, ends. Each pair is connected by two spokes, B, B, and are set 18 inches apart.

with thin iron on the upper surface and on They are faced f the lower parts of the outer ends. On the under edge of each, near a, a, a, a, there is a plate of iron the width of the skid let in, through which there are two holes to receive a small staple, one part of which is passed through a hold in the bed-iron, (near C, close to the upper edge,) and so driven home as just to let the skids play freely.

Fig. 3 shows the scale with a barrel suspended, ready for weighing. To use the skid-scale, the iron frame, with the skid att-ached as before described, is connected with the lower hook of a weighing beam; the upper hook of the weighing beam is inserted in the eye of the regulating screw in a cross-beam, and raised, by means of the tap, to within about of an inch of the ground or floor. In weighing, the barrel is rolled up one pair of the skids till it passes the first bed-iron, when its weight depresses the short ends of the skids to the bed-irons and lifts the long ends from the ground, thus forming a bed for t-he barrel, as shown in Fig. S. To remove the barrel from the scale, it is only necessary for the weigher to depress either pair of skids with his foot, and the barrel will roll from the scale.

. A scale of the dimensions stated in this specification is sufficient for weighting ordinary barrels of 300 lbs. For larger and heavier packages it would have to be increased in size and proportion.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and seek to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The iron frame, together with the skids, and regulating screw, used in connection with a weighing beam, as described in the foregoing specification, and represented in drawings accompanying this.

GEoRGE HoUsroN.

I/Vitnesses HENRY J. B. CLARKE,

WV. S. CORDON. 

